Comic-Con

Going to Comic-Con in San Diego is a commitment. It’s not just the travel, the hotels, the Lyfts and Ubers, the food, and the drinks (…oh so many drinks), it’s much more. The floor of SDCC is the ultimate test of maintaining your composure and measuring your self-restraint.

And many, if not all of us, fail. New vinyl collectibles, classic non-sports trading cards, prints, sketches, autographed memorabilia, comics, nostalgia filled unpackaged toys, trades, meet & greets are just the start of the ways that your wallet can bottom out within just a few hours if you aren’t careful.

I, like many, try to go down with a plan on what I will be purchasing. As a Comic-Con veteran of nine SDCC’s (eight of them being consecutive), what I look for in advance is the list of the exclusives. This gives a good baseline for what will most likely be purchased.

This is the first of three (possibly four) recap videos from San Diego Comic-Con International 2016 from my trip this year. As it is my eighth year going as a part of The Flickcast, it has been an honor covering the convention in a variety of ways such as photo galleries, interviews, visual tours and unboxings. This year will be no different. Later this week, our Comic Con shopping haul video will release followed by our Field Trip video where we take you down to the Con floor and even some of the VIP parties.

Our first video kicks off with the Loot Crate Gallery of Heroes Convention Exclusive Crate. Founders of the monthly geek in a box phenomenon, Loot Crate has maintained the top spot in the subscription box community.

In just a few hours, almost 200,000 people will meet in San Diego, CA at the annual gathering of all things geek and pop culture. The Flickcast has gone every year since the site began in 2009 (with many of us having attended before that). To help jog our memories and get things started, WallE and I kicked things off at Golden Apple Comics in Los Angeles last week and talked about some of our favorite convention moments.

With the first story happening to Joe back in 1989 and featuring Stan Lee to WallE’s Hall H line nightmare to my encounter with Raptor Jesus (Yes, that’s a thing, watch the video), this trip down memory lane got everyone ready to experience the “grand daddy of them all” again.

Con Season 2016 has begun! With everything from PAX East this upcoming weekend all the way to Comikaze in October, the best half of the year is underway. In an effort to best cover these, The Flickcast has made sure I have appropriate credentials to get on the floor (or at the least, a map of where all the best bars and parties are) at each convention.

First, I headed to WonderCon as a part of The Flickcast team and Whiskey & Waffles. At the event, I had four very important ‘jobs’:

Fans of The 100, if you thought this season was going to pull back from the insanity, think again. At WonderCon 2016 all the cast and creator Jason Rothenberg could talk about was what is still in store for the Grounders and the Skykru as a new enemy emerges.

Speaking during interviews at WonderCon, Rothenberg jumped right in to discuss how Lexa’s controversial death will play out through the end of the season. The key is the chip that was taken out of her. “Everyone is going to be after this chip,” he said. “It’s going to drive this story into a very intense direction.”

This is going to link up with season three’s major underlying story, the introduction of the AI known as ALIE. Raven has a personal score to settle with the AI. Earlier this season Raven, still suffering with pain from her leg injury, learned the AI was taking all of her happy memories.

Speaking about her character, Lindsey Morgan said, “Because she had to learn to be strong, she will always be strong…It’s going to be very interesting coming up, I’m very excited to see that.” She also teased the “fight of the century” between Raven and ALIE.

Premiering at WonderCon 2016, Justice League vs. Teen Titans brings the young team of heroes back to life with renewed energy and focus in one of DC Entertainment’s best animated films to date.

After Damien Wayne/Robin’s aggression nearly threatens a Justice League mission, he is sent to train with the Teen Titans. He’s hardly arrived when Raven’s (Taissa Farmiga) satanic father, Trigon (Jon Bernthal), plots an escape from his inter-dimensional prison. To aid in his escape, Trigon’s demons possess members of the Justice League. The Teen Titans are left with the impossible task of defeating the JLA and saving the planet.

“Teen Titans is like The Breakfast Club or Degrassi High,” said producer James Tucker.

With all of the emotions and tempers of teenagers heaped on top of having various powers and abilities, the Titans might as well be an angsty teen drama. Damien (Stuart Allan) doesn’t help matters. Still stubborn and arrogant, he’s certain he’s too good for the team.

Comic-Con comes and goes but the memories never leave… because we take video… and add music to it… and post it to YouTube. This was the 7th year The Flickcast has been at SDCC, and though the whole crew couldn’t make it down this time, those of us who did made sure to fully represent. As always, way more happened than we could fully capture on camera but we did our best to catch as much of it as possible as we could.

Have you ever been playing Portal and wondered how The Doctor would do in Aperture Science? Thanks to Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment now you can find out. LEGO Dimensions announced at San Diego Comic-Con the upcoming inclusion of Doctor Who. It is the first time Doctor Who has ever been in a LEGO videogame.

The stars of the BBC America show have lent their voices to their respective characters in the game as well. Peter Capaldi, Jenna Coleman, and Michelle Gomez have all brought their Doctor Who personas to LEGO life in Dimensions. The game is truly a mash-up of worlds. The TARDIS could pop up in Gotham City or The Doctor could ride along with Scooby and Shaggy.

As is seen in the trailer, all twelve doctors are included in Dimensions. In fact, LEGO has pulled out all the stops to please Whovians. When the Twelfth Doctor is defeated in a level, he returns as the First Doctor and then continues regenerating back up to Twelve. The TARDIS interior changes depending on which Doctor is “alive” but can also be manually chosen by the player. A jukebox inside the TARDIS allows players to select different versions of the Doctor Who theme music.

To celebrate the home entertainment release of the X-Men: Days of Future Past Rogue Cut Blu-ray on July 14th, fans at San Diego Comic-Con were treated to a special advance screening of the extended version of the film. Shown on four screens simultaneously at the Reading Cinema in downtown San Diego on Saturday, July 11, the Rogue Cut features an extra 17 minutes of footage including bringing Anna Paquin’s Rogue into the film’s main plot.

The additional scenes add some more humor and action to the film. It’s important to note that although the Rogue storyline accounts for probably 50% of the extra footage, the other 50% is equally as golden. Highlights of the later portions include some very funny bantering between Quicksilver and Magneto and a romantic scene between Beast and Mystique. Several fans at the SDCC screening pointed out they had already seen these portions online as deleted scenes.

As for the Rogue bits, they fit and strangely enough they seem essential to the plot. Sadly, since we’ve all seen how the film carries on without, they end up feeling more superfluous than they were intended to be. That said, that Bryan Singer was able to take Rogue out and still make Days of Future Past work and work well is commendable. It couldn’t have been easy to re-work scenes, dialogue, and climatic moments all to remove one character.

The Vikings season 4 trailer has landed and it points towards another season of blood, betrayal, and brothers. But could we also see the return of the god Odin? The trailer for the upcoming season first premiered at San Diego Comic Con during the show’s panel featuring stars Travis Fimmel (Ragnar), Katheryn Winnick (Lagertha), Clive Standen (Rollo) and Alexander Ludwig (Bjorn) along with Michael Hirst (writer/creator) and Dirk Hoogstra (EVP & General Manager, HISTORY).

Vikings left their mark once again on San Diego with interactive experiences for fans and newcomers alike. In the Exhibit Hall, the show’s Bludgeon Booth gave fans costumes and props to create their own battle, which was then filmed in slow motion. Special effect blood splatter was then added and the 15 second clips were added into battle scenes from the show for fans to share. Out in the Gaslamp District those who accepted a complimentary ride on the Vikings long ship were given a drinking horn that granted them access to drink special at select venues in Gaslamp during the SDCC weekend.

Though it is History’s only scripted drama, Vikings continues to pull in strong ratings and rabid viewers. A fourth season, which will air in 2106, was announced five episodes into the third-season run.